It was nightfall, the light was fading, when this lovely foto of an Eagle in the His & Hers Tree was captured by mishi! Fotos taken by Donnae, who was lucky enough to be sitting on Grassy Point when this Eagle flew over her head, showed that this Eagle is not quite adult.i am looking forward to seeing Donnae*s fotos!

Back to more fotos by ekf now.i believe this is the same young adult Eagle that was spotted the evening before.These fotos are now the next day, in early morning dull light.

She says -

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Those who would know are pretty sure that this is Hope Hornby, the eagle of her daddy's eye who suddenly appeared Sunday evening in her parents' 'his and hers' perch tree at the edge of Grassy Point. Only months from earning the pure whites of a mature five-year-old adult, she's a healthy and vital eagle. With no sign yet of Mom or Dad Hornby, Hope is the one who brings a wistful smile.

Looking at her fotos, i believe i agree with her!This could well be Hope! Hope turned five this year, next spring she will be six.This Eagle still has the vestiges of a young Eagle.Notice the brown in the tail tips, & the smears & spatterings of brown on the head.The beak is not totally yellow yet.Eye is looking pretty yellow.Look at the head feathering, & the facial features, this Eagle looks so much like Mum.Nice bulky size, too.

Lovely orange feet & a fluffy stuck to her beak!She takes after Dad!

These fotos were taken at first light, but still show well the distinctive head feathering.

tuesday, around 1:40 pm, an Eagle was seen on cam, flying into the short stubby branch on the right side of The Babysitting Tree!Thanks to Dawn for giving me the heads up!These four fotos were taken by ekf.Of course i have a bunch too, but hers are already up, so i will start with them.Look at the lovely white feathering of the tail & head.Here is the Eagle mid-trill.

Everyone is excited that Dad is back, but i keep looking at these fotos, & my own fotos, & there is just something that is not quite Dad, to me.This Eagle flew right in & landed on that short stubby branch.That seems very Dad.An Eagle was also seen the next morning, in the His & Hers Tree, in a typical Mum & Dad perch branch.But now they haven*t been seen since.The Eagle in The Babysitting Tree was totally comfortable with four of us watching & taking fotos, barely noticing us the whole time.i find visitor Eagles aren*t so comfortable, & fly off very quickly when they see us photographing them.Something about the face & the shape of the body of this Eagle doesn*t seem quite Dad to me.& one thing really jumps out.Look at this Eagle*s crossed talons!That is something Mum often does, but i am not sure i have ever seen Dad do this.So me, i am not saying this is not Dad, but i am also not saying this is Dad, either.Let*s just keep watching.

So today, around 8am, the ground crew visitors walked down to Grassy Point.There was an Eagle perched just below the top perch branch on the right side of the His & Hers Tree.The Eagle flew off towards the water, then banked right in the direction of The Peters* Tree.The Eagle was then observed on the Peters* Tree, in what mishi considers to be Dad*s usual spot.The Eagle then took off & flew right, towards Hidden Beach.When the ground observers arrived at Hidden Beach, they found an Eagle perched on the rocks at Sandstone Point.A second Eagle was perched in what mishi considers to be Dad*s perch branch in one of the Hidden Beach Trees.This Eagle then flew off left in the direction of the Babysitting Tree, banked to the right & landed in the top of the Wiigs* perch Tree, where they still are perched, as of 9:24am.This perch Tree is not the one we see from the cam, it is behind it, perhaps the one that is visible from Brigantine Rd.mishi says to say they are continuing to observe these Eagles, but she is so far not convinced that Dad is back.

Alright, now i have access to the fotos mishi took of that Eagle in The Babysitting Tree tuesday! i forgot to mention that it was a lovely sunny warm day, & this Eagle was HOT!They were panting, & their wings were open to help them cool off.

Notice the big bug to the right & lower down from this Eagle.Also notice the crossed talons!i love being able to see the pantaloon leg feathering of an Eagle like this.

Here we have the Eagle in the middle of a head scratch!i love seeing this, too.Nictitating membrane is drawn across the eye in this foto.

Okay, here are a few of my fotos of the Eagle we saw tuesday.It was a warm sunny day & the Eagle was panting & had their wings open.i was trying to get fotos when they weren*t, wanting to see Dad.Was it the angle of the sun? the shadows? that were making this not seem like Dad.This is a very Dad pose, to me, but still, to me, this is not Dad.

booni, thank you for taking and posting all the photos of the Eagle in the Babysitting tree, and for including ekf's too.

The grayish feathers beside his eye (first photo in your last post) do not seem Dad-like, but many other features are so much like other photos that we have seen of Dad. I guess we will have to wait and see if this eagle goes to the nest.

I noticed the crossed talons, too, but something rang a bell, so I went looking. Look at your photos of Dad in the BST the last day that he and Mom were seen after Hali fledged in 2012. Crossed talons!